Case Reference Number RCC0539953
Dear Mr Ali
I write further to your recent email raising concerns about a telephone conversation you had with Michael Avery on 2 May 2014. You consider that Mr Avery spoke to you in an inappropriate way.
I am sorry that you are not satisfied with the service you have received in this case. I am aware that you called Mr Avery in response to his letter and email of 28 April 2014 regarding your complaint about a request to the Cabinet Office. I was sitting within earshot of Mr Avery during the call and have also discussed his reasons for terminating the call with him.
Mr Avery explained that early in the call you sought to raise matters relating to a previous case he had handled involving the Civil Service Commission. You have also referred to this case in your email to me. However, that case was closed some time ago and has been considered by the Tribunal. It does not have a bearing on the Cabinet Office case currently under consideration and there is no further purpose in us discussing that matter with you.
Mr Avery has also explained that he terminated the call because he did not consider it was serving a useful purpose owing to the fact that you were not allowing him to finish speaking. It appears that both sides of the conversation may have become slightly frustrated during the call.
However, on the basis what I heard of Mr Avery’s handling of the call, I do not consider that he spoke in an unacceptable way. He asked you to allow him to make his points but then explained he would terminate the call. He also invited you to submit any points you wished to make in writing. If you do have further points to make about the Cabinet Office case, I agree that it may be beneficial to submit your points in writing.
Your complaint about the Cabinet Office remains open and will be handled by Mr Avery. I note your request during our conversation on 2 May for the case to be reallocated, but I do not consider this appropriate or necessary. In all cases handled by the ICO, decisions are reached on the basis of the information available in the case. Where either party disagrees with the decision reached in a Decision Notice, they have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. Therefore, if you are unhappy with the eventual outcome of the case, you will be able to consider an appeal.
However, it is important to note that a decision has not been reached on your case yet. Mr Avery has written to the Cabinet Office with some enquiries to assist him in reaching a decision. Therefore I would suggest that, unless you have any further supporting information directly relevant to your request to the Cabinet Office, you do not need to take any further steps at present. You will be contacted in due course with further information about your case.
Yours sincerely
Paddy Dillon
Team Manager, Information Commissioner’s Office
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I was told that saying you would like sugar in your tea to a female member of staff could be harassment (I kid you not) but when HMRC staff ...
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This is an internal e-mail which proofs that I submitted complaints against Tony Smith and other members of staff prior to their complaints ...
2 comments:
Just to let you know, I made exactiy the same complaint about Mr Avery.
The shouty way he talked over me - when I asked him a reasonable question.
And got the same response from Mr Dillon.
NB There are no taped phone calls so ICO employees can basically say and do as they like.
Therefore do not have to be polite to callers.
Think Mr Dilon must have standard paragraphs ....
Here's his response on Mr Michael Avery when I also asked he be removed from my case.
( Personally it's a relief know it's not just me he speaks to in this way)
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Request for copy of call recording
You have requested a tape of your recent phone call with Mr Avery. The ICO does not record telephone calls in any circumstances or for any reason, and therefore I confirm that we do not hold this information.
Your service complaint
You have requested that Mr Avery no longer handles any cases you refer to us, and have complained about his conduct during a recent telephone call.
As mentioned above, the ICO does not record phone calls and therefore we are unable to review the call. However, I have spoken to Mr Avery and he has explained that the tone of the call became slightly fraught after he declined your repeated requests to be provided with further written confirmation about the content of the Decision Notice.
NB ( Totally untrue.. I asked him when titles/ summaries of requests were not taken into consideration when making decisions on requests... I did NOT ask that he write.. Why would I?. And I'd got t the information in another way, so no need to chase it ' by writing' )
While it is unfortunate if you found his response distressing, I consider it was reasonable for Mr Avery to decline to write to you again on this
Mr Avery is a capable and professional case officer and I do not consider it appropriate or necessary to divert from our usual procedures by reallocating your cases to other staff. Therefore your current freedom of information case about the Cabinet Office remains allocated to Mr Avery. Any future cases you raise with the ICO will be allocated to an available case officer in line with our usual processes.
Yours sincerely
Paddy Dillon
Team Manager, Information Commissioner’s Office
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